Citing three separate New Jersey cases, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office says the police report filed by Katie Brennan alleging she was raped in her apartment last year is “exempt from disclosure to the public.”Â
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“In response to your request for any police reports related to the alleged sexual assault
incident; please note these reports are considered part of the criminal investigatory record and are exempt from disclosure to the public,” MCPO spokeswoman Andrea Boulton said in response to an Open Public Records Act request from Hudson County View.
The prosecutor’s office said that any police reports related to Brennan’s case, which revolves around her claim that she was raped by former state Schools Development Authority chief of staff Albert Alvarez, are “considered criminal investigatory records,” which aren’t public records.
HCV also requested any police radio transmissions in connection to the incident, to which the MCPO replied they “are not in possession of such records.”
Brennan, the chief of staff at the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, went public with her allegations against Alvarez on Sunday via The Wall Street Journal and Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and the state legislature have both announced that his hiring will be investigated.
The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office investigated the incident, which allegedly occurred at Brennan’s Jersey City apartment in April 2017, and decided not to press charges.
Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has come under fire over the situation, which was recently reopened and referred to the MCPO by state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, but she has defended her actions and said she stands by her office’s decision not to charge Alvarez.
Murphy’s administration also continues to face intense scrutiny in light of Brennan’s allegations, with The Wall Street Journal revealing last night that a top aide to the governor was investigated for “toxic” behavior that included throwing a chair in the workplace.
